Preschool Chapel Returns

There are parts of my vocation that are such a privilege I can hardly believe it is my good fortune to be serving.  Every Wednesday morning I get to lead chapel for the Covenant Presbyterian Preschool children.  This is not a "have to" this is a "get to".

Imagine 60+ kids from babies to 5 years old in a room together.  It is cahrazy!  And honestly in the 20 minutes I have with them--I keep their wholehearted attention for about 5 minutes.

They are snotty sometimes.  And wrinkled sometimes.  And cranky sometimes.  But they parade up the stairs or run off the elevator and they are charming.

We sing songs together! We get our wiggles out with "If you're happy and you know it" and "This Little Light of Mine."  They shout AMEN so loud it rattles the chandelier.

We've done all kinds of things over the last few years.  We have put on costumes and acted out stories from Noah's Ark to Pentecost.

One year we used Godly Play and we heard and watched the story being told in a variety of ways.  We've flung more sand from the sandbox than we ever thought possible.

We have been in the sanctuary where we have heard that the pews are "as old as your grandmother."  We have learned about advent and lent.  We have looked inside the baptismal font and had bread and juice in the fellowship hall as we learned about communion.

We've traipsed outside and danced in the parking lot and used our bodies to spell HOPE and LOVE.

We've done scavenger hunts with the wise men that guided us to the star at Christmas.  We've heard that big word, RESURRECTION, right before our Easter egg hunt!

This year, we will use some of our Sunday School materials from the Deep Blue Curriculum to hear our stories.  Yet another way to engage our senses in learning about the stories of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

You have to be careful what questions you ask of them. You never know what they will say or how your question might set them into a flurry of chatter.  But,we always end our time together in prayer where they diligently repeat after me.

My new stamp pad is ready, a cross stamp picked out-- a sign on their hands as God seals their hearts.

I feel like a part of the team now when I greet those teachers and their children each week.  The kids make me feel welcome too.  Hearing, "Pastor Loren" called out down the hallway is always a highlight of my day.